Festival 2018
January 6th
Kayayo, the Living Shopping Baskets (Norway – documentary)
In the capital of Ghana, 10,000 girls from the ages of 6 work as real life shopping baskets - called Kayayo, carrying heavy loads on their head (from 130 to 220 pounds), earning very little and some end up in prostitution to make ends meet. This documentary is about Bamunu, an 8-year old girl who hasn’t seen her family since she was sent away from home two years ago to work as a Kayayo to support her family. We follow her incessant longing to get away from the harsh markets, her journey back home and what awaits there.
Chronicles of Melanie (Latvia – feature)
The film “The Chronicles of Melanie” is based on the life story of Melānija Vanaga, a Latvian woman who managed to survive her deportation to Siberia. It is a truthful account of the miracle of human character, magnitude of the human spirit and the painful destinies, which were a part of the greatest tragedy facing the Latvian nation. It is the story of Latvian women who had to suffer and survive physically and emotionally in order for Latvia to live.
The Square (Sweden – Oscar entry)
A modern museum struggles with their visitor numbers and the newly appointed creative director decides to hire a PR agency to help promote the upcoming exhibition called “The Square”. The Square is an elegant and telling satire addressing topics of responsibility and trust.
You Disappear (Denmark – Oscar entry)
A teachers' world is turned upside down when her husband, a successful headmaster, is caught embezzling from their own school. Did he do this of his own free will - or has his personality been altered by the tumor lurking in his brain? As the teacher is assisting an attorney in providing a legal defense, recent neuroscience forces her to rethink who her husband really is.
January 7th
The Dolphin (Denmark – short)
Anna takes her 7-years old son Robert to the beach to finish his swimming course, the DOLPHIN, but something is terribly wrong and Anna needs to face reality.
November (Estonia – Oscar entry)
The story is set in a pagan Estonian village where werewolves, the plague, and spirits roam. The villagers’ main problem is how to survive the cold, dark winter. And, to that aim, nothing is taboo. People steal from each other, from their German manor lords, and from spirits, the devil, and Christ. The main character of the film is a young farm girl named Liina who is hopelessly and forlornly in love with a village boy named Hans.
Under the Tree (Iceland – Oscar entry)
When Baldwin and Inga's next door neighbours complain that a tree in their backyard casts a shadow over their sundeck, what starts off as a typical spat between neighbours in the suburbs unexpectedly and violently spirals out of control.
Thelma (Norway – feature)
A college student starts to experience extreme seizures while studying at a university in Oslo, Norway. She soon learns that the violent episodes are a symptom of inexplicable, and often dangerous, supernatural abilities.
Tom of Finland (Finland – Oscar Entry)
Touko Laaksonen, a decorated officer, returns home after a harrowing and heroic experience serving his country in World War II, but life in Finland during peacetime proves equally distressing. He finds peace-time Helsinki rampant with persecution of the homosexual men around him, even being pressured to marry women and have children. Touko finds refuge in his liberating art, specializing in homoerotic drawings of muscular men, free of inhibitions. His work - made famous by his signature 'Tom of Finland' - became the emblem of a generation of men and fanned the flames of a gay revolution.
January 20th
Northbound (Norway – short)
The rural meets the urban when four skaters goes to the Lofoten in Northern Norway. A mini ramp is created out of sand and ice, and a skateboard film is made with the majestic Lofoten as a backdrop.
Summer Children (Iceland – feature)
Siblings Eydís and Kári are only five and six years old when their parents' marriage breaks apart. Following the divorce they are sent temporarily to a children's home in the countryside. But when the stay turns out to be longer than they had expected, Eydís and Kári take matters into their own hands.
The Dissidents (Estonia – feature)
This action comedy takes us back to the 1980’s as three young guys flee the Soviet Union to the West, to get to live an awesome life just as they’ve seen in “Miami Vice” and “Knight Rider.” At first the Swedes welcome them as real heroes, who broke through the iron Curtain, but soon they’re regarded as just more tedious immigrants. To put food on the table they have to do something as lame as…work! But the boys are no quitters, so they come up with a plan that should guarantee success in the Western world.
Nothing Ever Really Ends (Norway – short)
Marius and Ebba is a couple in their late 20's who is in constant conflict even though they love each other deeply. Every New Years Eve they try to break up. A story about love and dysfunction told over the course of three years.
Late Summer (Norway – feature)
An elderly woman has secluded herself in her remote home in the French countryside, when a young foreign couple on vacation suddenly intrudes on her isolated life.
Strawberry Days (Sweden – feature)
A story about love between the son of a polish guest worker and the daughter of a Swedish farmer. Set in the beautiful strawberry fields in the Swedish south, but depicts a world full of divergency and prejudice.
January 21st
The Ex-Wife (Sweden – feature)
Klara is newly in love and all she wants is to be close to Jacob. Anna times her husband with a stopwatch when he gets their baby’s bottle ready. Vera can’t let go of her former husband. With humour and seriousness The Ex-Wife tells the story of three relation - ships, where the Girlfriend, the Wife, and the Ex-wife all come together in a revealing satire of the arc of relationships – from falling in love to divorce.
Frost (Lithuania – Oscar entry)
A young Lithuanian who, intent on understanding war and hence his people, boards a humanitarian convoy bound from Lithuania to the Ukraine’s war-torn Donbass region. Falling in with two war reporters, one a woman, he is plunged into the turmoil of war where the trio will be forced to overcome their psychological limits and build a strong relationship. They do not agree upon anything, except for their wish to be where they are, each of them for their own reasons.
Miami (Finland – feature)
Angela blows into a small town in the Finnish countryside, dazzling the locals with her exotic dancer troupe, sequined swirls and mega-watt smile. After a nasty encounter backstage she leaves town just as fast, only now with her estranged half-sister Anna (21) in tow. Anna gladly exchanges a dreary life in a bakery for an adrenaline-fueled existence on stage. Happy to be closer to her glamorous older sister, she embraces the world of exotic dancing. But none of the champagne bubbles and sparkly make-up can protect her as she tries blackmail to save Angela from the trouble that keeps following her. Dark forces from the underworld test their newly found sisterhood.
Across the Waters (Denmark – feature)
Enjoying the nightlife of 1943 Copenhagen, jazz guitarist Arne Itkin (David Dencik) is seemingly immune to the hardships of war, as the Danish government opts for a compliant relationship with Nazi Germany. He is initially skeptical when his terrified wife Miriam (Danica Curcic) hears rumors of the round-up and deportation of Danish Jews. An overnight raid however, forces the couple to flee their home with five-year-old son Jakob (Anton Dalgård Guleryüz). Aided by a church pastor and underground resistance, they set out on a journey for the fishing village of Gilleleje, where refugees await passage to Sweden by boat. Amidst lurking danger from the Gestapo and their collaborators, the family puts its fate in the hands of strangers whose allegiance and motives are not always clear.